


The Enemy of my Enemy

by SifaShep



Series: Merc!Shepard AU [2]
Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Archangel - Freeform, Blue Suns, Gen, merc!shepard AU, omega - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-18
Updated: 2015-11-18
Packaged: 2018-05-02 07:20:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5239589
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SifaShep/pseuds/SifaShep
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Queen of Omega’s day just became a lot more interesting.</p>
<p>In ME2, Shepard meets Jaroth and Garm during Garrus’s recruitment mission on ME2. Jaroth is Eclipse’s leader; Garm is Blood Pack’s.</p>
<p>Warnings: violent death, language, blood and gore. This *is* Omega, after all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Enemy of my Enemy

_Omega, 2183_

 

Aria T'Loak smiled and leaned back on the couch. Her bodyguards lay in a heap all around her. Smoke drifted all around her; it played with the shadows along the wall, outlining them in hazy waves. The mistress of Omega ignored the sounds of death and dying, the stench of old sweat and new victims. In fact, she appeared to be comfortable in her element.

"Jaroth? I know you're there. I knew you were too cowardly to show your face."

A Salarian mercenary stepped out of the white swirls around them. He gave her a gaptoothed smile, one filled with all sorts of promise. "On the contrary, Aria. I'm here to give you what you deserve."

Aria raised a sardonic eyebrow and said, "What  _I_  deserve? What makes  _you_  so sure that you know what  _I_  deserve?"

"Believe me, I've been waiting for this for a long time." Jaroth inclined his chin at the hulking Krogan on Aria's right. "We both have, haven't we, Garm?"

"Yeah," the Krogan rumbled. The leader of Omega's Blood Pack raised his shotgun. "Omega's ours now, like it used to be."

She laughed and turned her scornful look on Garm. "As I recall, I was here when you were just a little pyjak at Patriarch's knee. Some things don't change."

Garm rumbled dangerously, deep within his chest. A sharp glance from Jaroth was the only thing that stopped him from firing his shotgun.

"Not yet, Garm. How about we enjoy this moment as long as we can, yes?" Jaroth stepped forward and slid his pistol under Aria's chin. He tilted her head so he could look into her icy blue eyes. To her credit, she didn't flinch under the cold metal.

"Is it true what they say about asari nightwalkers? All the things they can do with their minds? I've always been curious to find out."

"You can always go looking for one in the slums, Jaroth. That is, if you can pay one enough credits to ignore your smell."

"You're hardly in any position to insult me now, Aria. By the time we're finished with you, you'll be begging for mercy." Jaroth smirked and bent closer until his lips were close to hers. "Shall I describe what we're going to--"

Aria jerked back reflexively as Jaroth's head exploded in a fountain of blood and gore. A second roar slammed Garm against the wall. The Krogan's shields rippled, but held. Aria pulled out the pistol from under the cushions and fired several shots at Garm's head.

They bounced harmlessly off his shield, but it provided enough of a distraction. She turned and used her biotics to slam him against the wall again, a third time, a fourth time. Garm staggered as his shields finally failed.

She stood over him, her blue aura shifting and rippling across her features. "You broke the first rule of Omega, Garm. **Don't fuck with Aria!"**

And with a furious scream, she hefted the Krogan into the air and tossed him as if he weighed nothing. Garm's choked roar died as another sniper shot sliced through his head. The lifeless body dropped with a final thump on the carpet.

Aria gasped and fell against the couch. The use of her biotics had never exhausted her like this before. Then again, no one had been so stupidly close to her, either.

She squeezed her eyes shut briefly, then opened them again. Then she raised her head and snarled, "Damn it, I know you're still here. You're lucky I like you enough not to put a hole in  _your_  head."

A shadow finally stepped through the smoke. Despite herself, a grim smile flickered across her lips. Tall, broad-shouldered, with the heavy armor of a mercenary. Aria chuckled as she recognized the shape of the chest plate.

"What, you joined the Spectres now? Suddenly decide to become a goody-goody paragon of virtue? You disappoint me."

The man made a scoffing noise and pulled off his helmet. Red hair, blue eyes, a deep scar that ran from his left temple down to the that corner of his mouth. He might have been handsome once, without the scar, but it only made him intimidating.

"Took it from a dead Spectre. Remind me to tell you the story sometime, Aria."

"Huh." Aria actually sounded impressed. Almost. She laughed and glanced over her shoulder. "And I see you, Archangel."

The Turian mercenary leaned against the far wall, his blue-black armor gleaming in the low light. "Thanks for giving me the target practice, Aria. Garm needed that bullet in his head a long time ago."

Aria turned her attention back to the human merc. He slung his sniper rifle over his shoulder. He was one of the best damn shots she knew, and  _that_  was saying something. Paired with Archangel...the duo was unstoppable.

"Speaking of head shots, you waited until Jaroth was so close to me that I could smell his breath. Your sense of drama is worse than mine."

He smirked and crossed his arms over his chest. The soft quiet drawl only made him even more dangerous. Aria wondered again just  _where_  he came from. Even her best information brokers couldn’t say.

"I saved your life, Aria."

"What, you want a medal?"

"Actually, I need your help with a...little problem. If you say yes, consider us even."

She raised her eyebrows at him. Now this was interesting. He had never asked her for help before this. Technically, he was a rival, with a powerful network of his own in the Terminus Systems and beyond. By all rights, she should have killed him before he got in her way.

But he intrigued her. And she was well aware of the Human saying, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend."

She patted the couch cushion next to her. Archangel stirred uneasily from his vantage point against the wall. "Don't worry, Archangel. I'm willing to listen, for now. Your friend is safe, for now."

Then she smiled up at the merc.  "In that case, tell me all about your problem, Shepard. Perhaps I can help you make it go away."


End file.
